One professor says Amazon's new ownership of a clinic that serves Hanover, N.H.-based Dartmouth College employees and their families could be the right model to "rethink" primary care, Valley News reported Sept. 27.
After Amazon took over One Medical in February, it gained ownership of the clinic now named One Medical at Dartmouth.
The clinic currently employs one full-time provider for about 1,300 patients and is not accepting new patients as it looks to recruit two more providers.
"We are looking forward to One Medical hiring two additional providers to offer greater access for our population in this challenging national healthcare environment," Jana Barnello, a Dartmouth spokesperson, told the publication.
But, the challenge the clinic faces isn't uncommon, according to Elliott Fisher, MD, a professor of medicine and health policy at the Dartmouth Institute.
According to Dr. Fisher, since primary care providers are compensated at lower rates than specialists, fewer providers are going into the field.
He called this a "vicious cycle," but one that the Amazon takeover could turn around, as "the model is the right model for rethinking primary care."